Catherine Cornaro ( el, Αικατερίνη Κορνάρο, vec, Catarina Corner) (25 November 1454 – 10 July 1510) was the last monarch of the

Kingdom of Cyprus The Kingdom of Cyprus (french: Royaume de Chypre, la, Regnum Cypri) was a state that existed between 1192 and 1489. It was ruled by the French House of Lusignan. It comprised not only the island of Cyprus, but it also had a foothold on the Ana ...

, also holding the titles of the

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

and

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...

. She was queen consort of Cyprus by marriage to

James II of Cyprus James II (french: Jacques; c. 1438/1439 or c. 1440 – 10 July 1473) was the penultimate King of Cyprus (usurper), reigning from 1463 until his death. Archbishop of Nicosia James was born in Nicosia as the illegitimate son of John II of Cypru ...

, regent of Cyprus during the minority of her son

James III of Cyprus James III of Cyprus (or Jacques III de Lusignan) (6 July 1473 – 26 August 1474) was the only child by the marriage of James II of Cyprus and Catherine Cornaro. He died in mysterious circumstances as an infant, leaving his mother as the last Q ...

in 1473–1474, and finally

queen regnant A queen regnant (plural: queens regnant) is a female monarch, equivalent in rank and title to a king, who reigns '' suo jure'' (in her own right) over a realm known as a "kingdom"; as opposed to a queen consort, who is the wife of a reigni ...

of Cyprus. She reigned from 26 August 1474 to 26 February 1489 and was declared a "Daughter of Saint Mark" in order that the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia ...

could claim control of Cyprus after the death of her husband, James II.

Life

Catherine was a daughter of Venetian Marco

Cornaro The House of Cornaro or Corner are a family in Venice who were patricians in the Republic of Venice and included many Doges and other high officials. The name ''Corner'', originally from the Venetian dialect, was adopted in the eighteenth centu ...

, Cavaliere del Sacro Romano Impero (Knight of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...

) and Fiorenza Crispo. She was the younger sister of the ''Nobil Huomo''

Giorgio Cornaro ''Nobil Huomo'' Giorgio Cornaro, called "Padre della Patria" (1452 – 31 July 1527) was a Venetian nobleman and politician. Life Giorgio Cornaro was born in Venice in 1452. He was the son of ''Nobil Huomo'' Marco Cornaro (December 1406 – 1 ...

(1452 – 31 July 1527), "Padre della Patria" and Knight of the

. The Cornaro family had produced four Doges. Her family had long associations with Cyprus, especially with regard to trade and commerce. In the Episkopi area, in the

Limassol District Limassol District () or Lemesos ( el, Λεμεσός) is one of the six districts of Cyprus. , it had a population of 239,842, 77% of which was urban. Its main city is Limassol. Part of the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia form ...

, the Cornaro family administered various sugar mills and exported Cypriot products to Venice. Catherine was painted by Dürer,

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...

, Bellini and

Giorgione Giorgione (, , ; born Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco; 1477–78 or 1473–74 – 17 September 1510) was an Italian painter of the Venetian school during the High Renaissance, who died in his thirties. He is known for the elusive poetic quali ...

Succession

On the death of the Cypriot King John II in 1458, the succession was disputed between his daughter

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

and the illegitimate James, who tried to seize the island. On the strength of the marriage of Louis of Savoy to Charlotte, the duke of Savoy claimed the island and Charlotte was named Queen. In 1468 Caterina, through negotiations by her father and uncle, was offered to James as his wife. The marriage was extremely advantageous to the

as it could henceforth secure the commercial rights and other privileges of Venice in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

. The proposal was agreed to, and the contract was signed in 1468, strengthening James's position.

Queen consort

Thus in 1468, James II, otherwise known as James the Bastard, became king of Cyprus. He and Caterina married in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

on 30 July 1468 by proxy when she was 14 years old. She finally set sail to Cyprus in November 1472 and married James in person at

Famagusta Famagusta ( , ; el, Αμμόχωστος, Ammóchostos, ; tr, Gazimağusa or ) is a city on the east coast of Cyprus. It is located east of Nicosia and possesses the deepest harbour of the island. During the Middle Ages (especially under t ...

Regent

James died soon after the wedding due to a sudden illness and, according to his will, Caterina, who at the time was pregnant, acted as regent. As soon as the Venetian fleet sailed away a plot to depose the infant

in favour of Charlotte, John's legitimate daughter, broke out, and Caterina was kept a prisoner. The Venetians returned, and order was soon restored, but the republic was meditating the seizure of Cyprus, although it had no valid title whatever.

Monarch

Caterina became monarch when James III died in August 1474 before his first birthday, probably from illness, even if it was rumored that he had been poisoned by Venice or

's partisans. The kingdom had long since declined, and had been a tributary state of the Mameluks since 1426. Under Caterina, who ruled Cyprus from 1474 to 1489, the island was controlled by Venetian merchants. In 1488 the republic, fearing that Sultan

Bayezid II Bayezid II ( ota, بايزيد ثانى, Bāyezīd-i s̱ānī, 3 December 1447 – 26 May 1512, Turkish: ''II. Bayezid'') was the eldest son and successor of Mehmed II, ruling as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, B ...

intended to attack Cyprus, and having also discovered a plot to marry Caterina to

Alfonso II of Naples Alfonso II (4 November 1448 – 18 December 1495) was Duke of Calabria and ruled as King of Naples from 25 January 1494 to 23 January 1495. He was a soldier and a patron of Renaissance architecture and the arts. Heir to his father Fer ...

decided to recall the queen to Venice and formally annex the island. In February 1489, the Venetian government persuaded Catherine to cede her rights as ruler of Cyprus to the

doge of Venice The Doge of Venice ( ; vec, Doxe de Venexia ; it, Doge di Venezia ; all derived from Latin ', "military leader"), sometimes translated as Duke (compare the Italian '), was the chief magistrate and leader of the Republic of Venice between 726 ...

—and by extension the Venetian government as a whole—as she had no heir. On 14 March 1489 she was forced to abdicate and sell the administration of the country to the Republic of Venice. According to George Boustronios:

"on 15 February 1489 the queen exited from Nicosia in order to go to Famagusta, to leave yprus And when she went on horseback wearing a black silken cloak, with all the ladies and the knights in her company ..Her eyes, moreover did not cease to shed tears throughout the procession. The people likewise shed many tears."

Later life

The last Crusader state became a colony of Venice, and as compensation, Catherine was allowed to retain the title of queen and was made lady of

Asolo Asolo () is a town and '' comune'' in the Veneto Region of northern Italy. It is known as "The Pearl of the province of Treviso", and also as "The City of a Hundred Horizons" for its mountain settings. History The town was originally a settlem ...

, a county on the ''Terraferma'' of the Republic of Venice in the

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

region, in 1489. Asolo soon gained a reputation as a court of literary and artistic distinction, mainly as a result of it being the fictitious setting for

Pietro Bembo Pietro Bembo, ( la, Petrus Bembus; 20 May 1470 – 18 January 1547) was an Italian scholar, poet, and literary theorist who also was a member of the Knights Hospitaller, and a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. As an intellectual of the ...

's platonic dialogues on love, ''Gli Asolani''. Caterina lived in Asolo until 1509, when the League of Cambrai sacked the town, then fled to Venice where she lived for another year, dying on 10 July, 1510. San Salvador Interno - Tomb of Caterina Cornaro.jpg, Her grave San Salvador Interno - Monument to Catherine Cornaro.jpg, Her funeral monument

Legacy

A libretto based on her life by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges formed the basis of the operas ''Catharina Cornaro'' (1841) by Franz Lachner, ''

La reine de Chypre ''La reine de Chypre'' (''The Queen of Cyprus'') is an 1841 grand opera in five acts composed by Fromental Halévy to a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges. Performance history ''La reine de Chypre'', first performed at the Salle Le ...

'' (1841) by

Fromental Halévy Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, usually known as Fromental Halévy (; 27 May 179917 March 1862), was a French composer. He is known today largely for his opera ''La Juive''. Early career Halévy was born in Paris, son of the cantor ...

, and ''

Caterina Cornaro Catherine Cornaro ( el, Αικατερίνη Κορνάρο, vec, Catarina Corner) (25 November 1454 – 10 July 1510) was the last monarch of the Kingdom of Cyprus, also holding the titles of the Queen of Jerusalem and Armenia. She was queen ...

'' (1844) by

Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style ...

. The Cornaro Institute, a charitable organisation founded by the artist Stass Paraskos in the city of

Larnaca Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of ...

, for the promotion of art and other culture, memorialised her name in Cyprus, prior to its closure by Larnaca Municipality in 2017. Also in Cyprus, in October 2011, the Cyprus Antiquities Department announced Caterina Cornaro's partially ruined summer palace in Potamia would be renovated in a one million euro restoration project, becoming a cultural centre.Di Cesnola, L. P. Cyprus: Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples, 2015. Work is on going in Potamia by craftsmen from the Department of Antiquities to renovate Caterina Cornaro's Summer Palace with about half now completed.

References

Sources

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